# twinkle
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English twinclen, twynclen, from Old English twinclian (“to twinkle”), equivalent to twink (“to wink; blink; twinkle”) +‎ -le (frequentative suffix). Compare German zwinkern (“to wink; twinkle”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈtwɪŋ.kəl/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪŋkəl

### Verb

twinkle (third-person singular simple present twinkles, present participle twinkling, simple past and past participle twinkled)
* (of a source of light) To shine with a flickering light; to glimmer.
    Synonyms: flicker, fulgurate, glimmer, scintillate, shimmer, wink
    We could see the lights of the village twinkling in the distance.
** 1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin] Walford, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC:These stars do not twinkle when viewed through telescopes that have large apertures.
** 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:The western sky twinkled with stars.
** 1950 January, Arthur F. Beckenham, “With British Railways to the Far North”, in Railway Magazine, page 8:As the train rumbled slowly over the Forth Bridge, the western sky was aflame with a particularly gorgeous sunset, and lights were twinkling from the small craft riding at anchor on the calm waters of the firth.
* (chiefly of eyes) To be bright with delight.
    Synonym: sparkle
    His shrewd little eyes twinkled roguishly.
* To bat, blink or wink the eyes.
    Synonym: nictitate
** 1922, Mrs. Juliet M. Hueffer Soskice, Chapters from Childhood: Reminiscences of an Artist's Granddaughter, page 165:She smiled and gave a little nod and twinkled her eyes […]
** 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:The Owl Fell a Moping and Twinkling.
* To flit to and fro.
    Synonyms: flicker, flirt, flutter
** 1988, Dorothy Gilman, Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle, page 190:A butterfly twinkled among the vines […]

#### Derived terms

* twinkle out
* twinkler

#### Translations
### Noun

twinkle (plural twinkles)
* A sparkle or glimmer of light.
    Synonyms: glint, glister, spark, twink
** 1980, Robert De Beaugrande, Text, Discourse, and Process:Soon the rocket was out of sight, and the flame was only seen as a tiny twinkle of light.
* A sparkle of delight in the eyes.
    He was a rotund, jolly man with a twinkle in his eye.
** 1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “[Amoretti.] Sonnet XVI”, in Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: […] [Peter Short] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, signature B, verso:One of thoſe archers cloſely I did ſpy, / ayming his arrovv at my very hart: / vvhen ſuddenly vvith tvvincle of her eye, / the Damzell broke his miſintended dart.
* A flitting movement.
    Synonyms: flit, flitter
** 1848, James Russell Lowell, Hebe:I saw the twinkle of white feet,
* (colloquial) A brief moment; a twinkling.
    Synonyms: instant, moment, twinkling; see also Thesaurus:moment
* (childish) The female genitalia.
    Synonyms: foo-foo, minnie; see also Thesaurus:vagina, Thesaurus:vulva
    The popular Swedish cartoon song about genitals was translated as "Willie and Twinkle".

#### Derived terms

* twinkle in one's daddy's eye
* twinkle in one's father's eye
* twinkle-toed
* twinkle toes